Why Do Mormons Want to be Christians?

In the August 2013 issue of the Ensign I read a story about a woman who was upset because someone didn’t believe she was Christian. She believed she was because of her closeness to “the Savior” and because she had many paintings of him throughout her home.

Considering their contempt for Christianity it strikes me as odd that any Mormon would want to be thought of as a Christian. As a Mormon I’m ashamed to say I looked down my nose at Christians. When I saw a commercial for a CD showing Christians worshiping, singing and praising God with their arms raised the thoughts that went through my mind were anything but Christian.

I too had pictures of “the Savior” hanging in my home. I also had pictures of the Mormon prophet, his counselors and the Washington DC temple hanging in my living room, and a copy of The Proclamation to the Family displayed in my home.

Referring to Jesus as “the Savior” is very common in the Mormon Church. I’m not quite sure where it comes from, but it’s just something you pick up when you convert to Mormonism. At first, after I became a Christian it was one of those habits that was hard to break, like referring to the Bible as “the scriptures”. I know Christians use that term occasionally when talking about the Bible, but keep in mind Mormons have many books they consider scripture.

Calling Him the Savior seems so impersonal to me now. Even just reading it sends chills down my spine. They have such a distorted view of who He is and of the work He did on the cross, it’s sad to think I used to be just like them. Even when it comes to prayer Mormons are taught not to pray directly to Jesus, or even say “Lord” in their prayers because it’s too confusing and they might forget who they’re talking to.

Don’t pray to Jesus

1982 BYU Speech by Bruce McConkie; “I shall express the view of the Brethren, of the prophets and apostles of old, and of all those who understand the scriptures and are in tune with the Holy Spirit…We do not worship the Son, and we do not worship the Holy Ghost.

…Another peril is that those so involved often begin to pray directly to Christ because of some special friendship they feel has been developed…This is plain sectarian nonsense.

Our prayers are addressed to the Father, and to him only. They do not go through Christ, or the Blessed Virgin, or St. Genevieve or along the beads of a rosary. We are entitled to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).”

Avoid saying Lord;

Prayer, pg 33, 35; “Two cautions: As we pray to our Father in heaven, we should avoid using the term “Lord”. This is confusing and makes it difficult for us to tell whether we are addressing the Father or his Son, Jesus Christ.” – Carlos Asay, General Authority, Quorum of the Seventies

Another reason I wonder why they would want to call themselves Christian is the constant promotion of The Book of Mormon. A few years ago you couldn’t turn on the TV without seeing an advertisement from the Mormon Church to receive a free Book of Mormon. Sometime after those finished airing , they began airing ones that offered a free Bible.

But it’s the Book of Mormon they use to hook people into their religion, calling it a New Testament of Jesus Christ. It’s what they encourage people investigating their religion to read, and pray about. It doesn’t matter if the individual has any formal church background or not, is a Christian or Atheist.

In an interview on the Mormon Channel Mormon Church leader Jay E. Jesen said:

“To those not of our faith our invitation is come. Come and listen to the missionaries, listen to a member and in particular, get a copy of the Book of Mormon. Open it. Get into it. Get on your knees and ask.” —Jay E. Jensen

If someone’s a Christian are they going to encourage someone to read another book other than the Bible? Are they going to tell someone not to pray to Jesus or not to have a relationship with Him?

The last point is just one of the areas where Mormonism fails its people. If they have no relationship with Jesus, if He’s just someone they filter their prayers through and someone who comes in with His grace after they’ve done all they can do what’s the point in getting to know Him better? If you don’t know Him you can’t have a desire to pursue Him, and be more like Him.

As a Mormon my spiritual growth and desire to grow closer to Jesus Christ was very stagnant. Looking back it’s hard for me to see where I saw myself growing more into the person God wanted me to be. If anything I felt like I was just spinning my wheels, not going forward or backward, just staying in the same place.

I always felt defeated, and like I wasn’t doing “all I could do”. It didn’t matter how hard I tried. It was always one step forward two steps back, and it stayed that way until I came to know Jesus.

As I’ve made my way out of Mormonism I can see how I’ve changed these past six years. I can even see a marked change in my life from where I was a year ago. God is constantly changing me and growing me.

As much as Mormons want to be Christian they never will be, and the reason is very simple. They don’t know Jesus, the real Jesus. They will never allow Jesus to be to them what Jesus is to the Christian, to do that they would have to trade a relationship with their religion for a relationship with Him.

They would have to relinquish control of their lives to Him, put their trust in Him for their salvation and allow Him to receive the glory for anything good that comes from them. And those are things no “worthy” Mormon is prepared to do.

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2 Responses to “Why Do Mormons Want to be Christians?”

Hi Melissa,
Loved your very educational, intellectual article.
I am an ex muslim and had accepted Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.
I been married to mormon girl for over 29 years, and once thought about joining her church.
Once I start researching and asking missionary questions, found out that Mormonism is nothing more than 19th century’s version of islam. Then I started reading, studying Holy Bible and quran to connect the all the dots which led me to accept Jesus my Lord and Savior.
I have great regret that i should have researched on Mormonism long ago so I could have save my daughter Rachel from this bazaar cult. She is married to mormon missionary in mormon temple, she is completely got sucked into this masonic, bazaar cult and the more I learn about this cult the more I feel guilty that I should have saved her from this cult which is worse than
ilsam (IMO).
The only thing I could at this point to just pray for Rachel, to Almighty to open her eyes, heart to see the LIGHT and TRUTH. Just like He did mine.

Zia,
Thank you for your kind words. I’m so happy to hear that you have come to know Jesus as your personal savior. PTL!

If it’s one thing this religion is very good at its disguising itself as Christian when it’s really not. Many people join Mormonism thinking it’s just another Christian religion, and it’s not until they’ve been through the temple that they discover there’s more to this religion than what they initially thought.

It’s not your fault your daughter chose to join, what you can do now is continue to pray for her and not be afraid to witness to her when the chance presents itself. Please know that all of us at LAM will keep you and Rachel in our prayers. – Melissa Grimes